Colombia to Ecuador: Crossing the Border by Bus
By the time we completed our trek into the Paramo, I had been traveling in Colombia for nearly three weeks, and the country had won my heart. During our time traveling, we had met such wonderful and engaging people, we had seen a variety of beautiful landscapes, and experienced a culture that is so diverse yet so connected. I was sad to move on but excited for our next spot, Ecuador.
To get to Ecuador, Arie and I planned to take the overnight bus from Armenia to Pasto. Pasto is the last major town before the border. Due to the timing of the busses, we decided to spend one night it Pasto so that we could cross the border early in the morning. It is recommended to do the stretch of road between Popayan and Pasto during the day due to the regularity of nighttime bus robberies! We caught the overnight bus, which departed from Armenia at midnight, passed through Popayan around 8:00 am, and continued on to Pasto arriving at around 2:00 pm.
The bus journey was quite enjoyable. We were the only tourists on the bus, and it started to feel a bit like a community. We had a brief stop where the police selected a few bags to search, quite typical during Colombian bus travel. The entire bus gathered around to watch the action.
When we finally reached the valley town of Pasto, we were impressed by the amount of construction. New apartment buildings were going up all over town. It was very modern and much bigger than we expected.
Our hotel, The Venecia Confort, was a few blocks from the bus station. After settling in, we decided to get some food. We had been on the bus for hours and we were starving! We found a place highly recommended on Trip Adviser called Café Café. We decided that the 40 minute walk to the café would be a good way to see the city. We didn’t make it very far before our first stop. Right outside of our hotel, two women had set up a roadside grill with beef and veggie skewers, grilled corn, and tiny fried potatoes. We each picked one of the items to eat while we walked, an appetizer before dinner. While my corn was delicious, Arie fell head over heals for the meat.
As we walked to Café Café, we noticed that in our neighborhood, the shops were all protected by security bars, even during opening hours. Arie and I felt safe, but we wondered if the extra precautions were from a history of FARC presence in the area or if the neighborhood was actually dangerous. Either way, after noticing the security situation, we took extra precautions on our walk.
As we continued towards the café, we could see the industrial area slowly turn into a sweet, colonial town. We passed two central squares and a few lovely churches. We wished we had more time to explore.
The next morning we woke up early to catch a mini-bus to Ipialas, the Colombian border town. From Ipialas, we caught a cab to the border crossing. We checked out of Colombia, walked across a bridge, and checked into Ecuador. We then caught a cab to Tulcan, the nearest Ecuadorian city, where we then caught a five-hour bus to Quito. We were sad to leave Colombia; we had had so many wonderful experiences over the last few weeks, but it was time to experience Ecuador!
Traveling in Colombia – see more of our Colombia adventures
Heading to Ecuador – see what towns we visited
The post Colombia to Ecuador: Crossing the Border by Bus first appeared on Liana Elise